The Contracting Newspaper Industry

national | arts and media | opinion/analysis Thursday November 25, 2004 13:58 by Michael Hennigan - Finfacts.com

Newspapers are losing circulation and influence as alternative media channels grow. However, the rise of free newspapers is also a challenge to traditional newspaper empires.

When the new current affairs magazine with the Magill name, was launched earlier this month, the Guardian Ireland correspondent termed the competition for Vincent Browne’s Village magazine as an impending ‘clash of the media titans.’ Clash or not, as far as I can discern, there hasn’t been even a tremor that would register on the lower end of a Richter type scale.

The media world has changed since the advent of the first Magill and the news print sector has to be prepared for more.

The Republic’s population has grown by 14.6% in the period 1991-2004 while the sale of Irish daily newspapers (including the Daily Star which is produced by a joint venture between Independent News and Media and Express Newspapers) has fallen by 7.5%. The combination of a population increase and a significant rise in incomes has failed to stem a trend of falling sales in the developed world.

In Europe the sale of newspapers has fallen 10% (paid-excluding free newspapers) since 1994. US daily newspaper circulation has fallen 6.5% in the same period. According to the World Association of Newspapers, over the five years 1999-2003, circulation declined in: Austria -12.9%; Belgium -5.5%; Denmark -9.6%; Finland -2.7%; France -4.98%; Germany -8.1%; Greece -8.0%; Ireland -3.8%; Luxembourg -7.12%; Netherlands -6.2%; Portugal -16.76%; Sweden -1.3%; and the United Kingdom -3.4%.

In 1991, the average daily circulation of Irish newspapers was 631,000 copies. The Irish Press group’s morning and evening papers comprised 25% of this total. Broadsheet circulation in 1991 was 361,000 compared with 355,000 in 2004. Following the closure of the Irish Press group, the 3 remaining broadsheet/compact publishers picked up business from the loss of the Irish Press morning newspaper which had a circulation of 59,000 in 1991.

The sales of the Cork/Irish Examiner only increased a tepid 3.5% in the period 1991-2004 while the Irish Independent and Irish Times increased circulation by 19% and 23% respectively. However, when all morning newspapers are considered, the Daily Star has been the greatest success with a circulation increase of 93%, from 56,000 in 1991 to 108,000 in 2004.

The biggest change in the period 1991-2004 is the contraction of the evening paper market, by almost half.

The increasing impact of online media, mobile radio, the arrival of 3G mobile telephony and the success of the free newspaper model, is a challenge for traditional media. While people now have diverse access to news today, local news papers continue to thrive because they provide a service that is not challenged by other channels. The competition will result in cost cutting and more journalists on freelance contracts.

During the US election campaign, the traditional media took note of the impact of blogging despite all its imperfections and the CBS network had to admit faulty standards in its research for its programme on Bush’s National Guard records.

Newspapers and broadcasters also have online versions, but they are subject to constraints which do no apply to other services online.

In Ireland, the journalists in the traditional media outlets come from the same small gene pool and it’s not surprising that there’s little differentiation in the output of the principal newspapers. Vincent Browne said that he wished to break the ‘cosy consensus’, with his Village magazine. That will happen but not by challenges from clones of traditional media.

For traditional newspapers, there is the challenge of focusing more on hard news that isn’t available elsewhere; putting opinion columnists on term limits and stemming the trend towards morphing into lifestyle magazines.

Free Newspapers

The Metro free newspaper was started in Stockholm 9 years ago and now has 38 editions published in 15 languages in 16 countries including the US. According to the New York Times, the paper is calculated to be savoured as long as it takes for a cup of coffee to cool. A morning scan of its pages of local and international news and health briefs is expected to last 15 to 20 minutes (or 16.7 minutes by one company measure). A snapshot of Metro readers worldwide shows that more than two-thirds are under 45 and half are women, according to a TNS Gallup readership survey. Two-thirds of the 5.5 million total daily circulation is in Europe. The Metro operates on a ‘no frills’ Ryanair model with many services outsourced and a core skeletal staff.

Many newspaper publishers are considering launching free newspapers to challenge the Metro. Up to 80% of revenues from newspapers can come from advertising. Circulation is important mainly to attract advertisers. For example the morning edition of the New York Daily News - which once sold two million copies a day but now is down to 700,000 - has launched a free afternoon paper. There is of course the difficulty of providing credible metrics for the advertisers. The advantage of the free model, is that new readers can be won among the younger segment of the market who otherwise may never bother buying a newspaper.

- I have added 28,000 as an estimate for the Evening Echo (Cork & Limerick) to the 2004 figures as detailed below: